What have you done to your DeLorean today?

[jawn101]

Took it up to Sacramento for a smog. Discovered that not only does it pass, but it basically emits nothing but rainbows, sunshine and water. OK, that might be an exaggeration - but it was so far below spec (and even below average in some cases) that I was stunned. Check it out...



But for some reason the coolant started getting really hot afterwards - right at 210-220ish. I think the 106 degree weather combined with idling in a hot parking lot waiting for its turn on the dyno, combined with the dyno tests and then immediately driving around must have just heated it up so much it couldn't shed the heat. After a few hours cooling in Clint's garage it made it home without getting the slightest bit hot. The A/C seems to play a huge role in this. If I shut it off, the temp gauge will drop by 15-20 degrees in under 5 minutes. Is that normal?

[Tillsy]

No progress for me over the past week. I've been waiting for a month on the machining of my rotors through a friend of my wife - they offered a great rate to do it but have been dragging on and on and on. Have officially given up and simply ordered brand newies from MidWest but it'll be next weekend before I have them. This has held me up getting her roadworthied as my braking distance would not pass, and the rotor warp prevents me doing the park/emergency brake tight enough so that likewise would not pass.

To that end just been doing odds and ends, buying various things such as oil ready for next transmission and engine change, and taking steps to start getting her roadworthy organised.

More importantly went out for shakedown cruise #9 which, given no work over past week, was nothing more than to give her a run and for me to enjoy driving her

[painterdave72]

to an awesome cruise.. finally! Its been so hot here havent really been able to but last night was about 75 degrees and there were around four hundred classic cars there!! Fun times...

[Jonathan]

But for some reason the coolant started getting really hot afterwards - right at 210-220ish. I think the 106 degree weather combined with idling in a hot parking lot waiting for its turn on the dyno, combined with the dyno tests and then immediately driving around must have just heated it up so much it couldn't shed the heat. After a few hours cooling in Clint's garage it made it home without getting the slightest bit hot. The A/C seems to play a huge role in this. If I shut it off, the temp gauge will drop by 15-20 degrees in under 5 minutes. Is that normal?

Hey Jon,

I remember being told by Dave S. that if you want to try and keep your car cooled down on hot days, you should actually turn the A/C on. And the reason behind this is that it forces the cooling fans to be on. I wonder if there is something going on that your cooling fans are not coming on when the A/C is on, but they do come on when it is off? Of the two ways the cooling fans are told to run, perhaps something goofy is going on with the A/C portion?

Do you know for sure the cooling fans come on as they should, and in both scenarios?

[jawn101]

Hey Jon,

I remember being told by Dave S. that if you want to try and keep your car cooled down on hot days, you should actually turn the A/C on. And the reason behind this is that it forces the cooling fans to be on. I wonder if there is something going on that your cooling fans are not coming on when the A/C is on, but they do come on when it is off? Of the two ways the cooling fans are told to run, perhaps something goofy is going on with the A/C portion?

Do you know for sure the cooling fans come on as they should, and in both scenarios?

Yeah, it's weird. The fans work. They kick on with the otterstat just above the second mark on the temp gauge. They also cycle with the compressor when the a/c is running, provided the otterstat isn't also calling for them. The otterstat is facing down (electrical connections towards the ground) as recommended. I have Dave M's fan fail module installed and verified working. My cooling system holds 20 psi, the water pump is new, no coolant is leaking, I have DPNW's autobleeder installed, and have recently manually bled the radiator. I can see coolant flowing in the bottle if I run the motor with the cap off. I've never traditionally had any heat issues at all. I don't believe the radiator is blocked but I will triple check that tonight when I get home.

Any other ideas?

[Chris 16409]

I'm sure it was a combination of the summer heat and longer than usual idling. Sounds like everything else is functioning properly. It's been 110 degrees in the central valley so I don't think our cars are happy in the heat.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Yeah, it's weird. The fans work. They kick on with the otterstat just above the second mark on the temp gauge. They also cycle with the compressor when the a/c is running, provided the otterstat isn't also calling for them. The otterstat is facing down (electrical connections towards the ground) as recommended. I have Dave M's fan fail module installed and verified working. My cooling system holds 20 psi, the water pump is new, no coolant is leaking, I have DPNW's autobleeder installed, and have recently manually bled the radiator. I can see coolant flowing in the bottle if I run the motor with the cap off. I've never traditionally had any heat issues at all. I don't believe the radiator is blocked but I will triple check that tonight when I get home.

Any other ideas?

Sounds like you have everything checked. Your sure the fans are blowing to the back of the car? It may be the radiator needs a flushing.

[Kevin]

Having a bear of a time trying to get my rear brake discs off, they seem pretty well-rusted to the hub. Going to let PB Blaster work some magic overnight and hopefully will have them off tomorrow. Also going to try to sand and clean the hub to hopefully make things easier for next time.

[DrJeff]

This weekend touched up the primer on the fascias and laid down the base color (mineral gray metallic) both front and rear with the air driven spray gun. Color looks exactly right - as instructed by others on this forum.

Since I had the headlights out, I took the opportunity to paint the light buckets and also the light front surrounds black (as done by one or two others in the forum). Reassembled they look great, cant wait get them into the new fascia.

[D Knight]

If you need rotors machined, I can help. I have a lathe. Not sure its really worth the shipping, but I can do it if you want it done. I won't charge to turn em for members here. Just glad to help other DMC owners.